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There’s no room for clowning about when it comes to risk management and maintaining the integrity of international business.
According to records of ancient Chinese history, the armies of the Chu and Song states were facing each other in readiness for battle in 630 BC when a Chu warrior, Xiong...
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Is anyone really surprised by the college admissions bribery scandal? Sure, it’s nice to think that academia is a bastion for the best and the brightest. But there’s a longstanding tradition where the family name—and perhaps an endowment—greases the wheels for less academically...
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This year is the 20th anniversary of the implementation of the OECD’s Anti-Bribery Convention. So, we went to Paris to meet Patrick Moulette, Head of the OECD Anti-Corruption Division. He explained that the global spread of negotiated settlements, particularly Deferred Prosecution Agreements, prompted...
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The telecommunications sector has taken some hits in recent years when it comes to anti-bribery and corruption compliance . Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced a settlement related to FCPA violations by Russia’s largest...
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2018 marks the anniversary of a multitude of different political as well as social turning points in human history. While the festivities commemorating the end of World War I were widely broadcasted and spoken about, two anniversaries often fall short of the public's attention: The 70th anniversary...
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Forget about the turtles. Today is International Ninja Day, but what we’re on about has more to do with regulatory risk than teenagers or (as far as we know) mutants. Why does International Ninja Day make us think ‘compliance program’?
International Ninja Day was the brainchild of...
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A few years ago, we highlighted bribery and corruption vulnerabilities in the Energy sector, noting that “Companies linked to energy industries, in particular, face elevated risks in order to reap the equally high rewards.” But more recent events highlight the need for companies in this sector...
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As the aftermath of corporate corruption and ethics scandals continue to play out in news headlines and courtrooms, spurring a continued search for expert advice and best practices on mitigating compliance risk . So, when a former compliance expert at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and a Harvard...
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Petrobras has reached a $1.78 billion settlement with the DOJ and SEC over bribes to politicians and political parties in Brazil. This is the first time an enforcement action over FCPA violations has exceeded a billion dollars. The amount is bigger than the nearest two settlements combined, and the case...
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French bank Société Générale expects to pay penalties of nearly $1.3 billion to settle allegations of breaching U.S.sanctions. It made dollar transfers on behalf of entities based in countries which were subject to U.S.sanctions. The fine is just the latest evidence of the...
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Companies are exposed to regulatory, financial, reputational and strategic risks, and the number of countries and NGOs with compliance expectations is on the rise. The best way to proactively manage these expectations? Risk-based due diligence and ongoing monitoring.
1—Regulatory risks...
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The U.S. Corporate Enforcement Policy, which incentivises companies to self-disclose bribery and corruption when they come across it, now applies to U.S. companies which are merging with or acquiring foreign companies. That’s according to a recent speech by a senior official at the Department of...
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The global compliance landscape is becoming ever more complex, and some of the most significant recent developments in ABC and AML legislation have happened in the UK. All companies who operate in the UK need to be aware of these laws, as well as growing consumer expectations of ethical behavior, if...
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No industry is impervious to bribery and corruption risk, but companies linked to energy industries, in particular, face elevated risks in order to reap the equally-high rewards. It’s a topic we’ve touched on in blog posts on Unaoil and Petrobras . But anti-bribery and corruption regulations...
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Just three years ago, Teva Pharmaceuticals, a drug-maker in Israel, disclosed to both the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice that an on-going internal probe had revealed possible violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and/or local laws. Ultimately...
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Kathryn Higgs is Director of Transparency International’s Business Integrity Program. Prior to that she was head of ethics and compliance at Tesco and chief compliance officer at Balfour Beatty. In an exclusive interview with LexisNexis, she says that technology has increased the risk of bribery...
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Since its introduction of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in 1977, the United States has led the world in efforts to counter bribery and corruption in corporate business that traverses national borders. Now it has gone a full step further with permanent adoption and expansion of its Corporate...
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College basketball in the United States is watched by millions and has become lucrative for the universities who compete and the companies who sponsor the teams. But college sport can also carry reputational, legal, and financial risks. We have seen the latest reminder in New York this week, when prosecutors...
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Environmental and social issues driving change in the construction industry
Guest Post by Colleen Theron, Director Ardea
Since Russia and Qatar won their bids to host the FIFA World Cups in 2018 and 2022 respectively, the construction industry has come under the spotlight for their human rights...
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Nothing evokes the public and personal perils of high-level corruption more powerfully than photos of the billionaire chairman of a corporate conglomerate being led to a prison bus in handcuffs. Or almost nothing. Images of his 95-year-old wheelchair-bound father, the founder of the conglomerate, leaving...
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For the latest installment of our Q&A series, we spoke with Simon Baptist of the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). More than 100 economists and experts at the EIU analyze political and economic risks for some of the world’s biggest companies. As Global Chief Economist and Managing Director...
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Universities in the United States received a record $43.6 billion in donations from individuals, companies and organisations in 2017. But recent scandals show that universities must not neglect due diligence on the source of these donations.
Top marks for university fundraisers
2017 was...
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The world’s most corrupt countries have been revealed in Transparency International’s 2017 Corruption Perceptions Index. The big movers in this year’s index are the UK, whose score has improved by eight points since 2012, and Australia, whose score has fallen by eight.
Usual...
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